Not Bad for a girl

Once upon a time, Sarah Bowden wasn't always the butt of Paul Brown and Richie Mead's jokes on Twitter. She remains the most successful female driver in a career was all too short. With thanks ot the king of the article in the early to late 90's, former commentator, Rob Hughes, I am honoured to host his article about her back in the day. Some words for Mesdammes Ellis, Mellis, and Glen to take inspiration from perhaps?

The only female driver (to date) to qualify for and compete in a Formula Two Stockcar World Final is Plymouth's Sarah Bowden, who at the mere age of 17 took part in the 1993 Championship Final at Crewe.

Sarah started her F2 stockcar career in 1991 after a successful Autospeed Mini-Stox career in which she reached Red Top and enjoyed plenty of vociferous vocal support from the Pit turn crowd at her local track of Newton Abbott during her time driving the Minis!

Incidentally, Sarah was involved in a particularly scary race incident at Newton Abbott when racing her Mini at the age of 14. In the opening lap of her heat one night she was caught up in a hectic race shunt which flipped her Mini on its roof. The fuel pipe in her car severed and caught alight. Sarah was trapped in the car but was fortunately dragged clear by the race marshals who wasted no time in coming to the rescue. Sarah said of the incident, "I was stuck upside down in the car, wedged in with my crash-helmet, and I could see the fire dripping down, getting closer, and it was getting very hot in there. But I was lucky, they got me out and I wasn't hurt.....I was able to carry on......"

An impatiently eager and enthusiastic Miss Bowden made her F2 race debut on Sunday 5th May 1991 at Taunton at the wheel of her dad's (788 Pete Bowden) 2 Litre Higman that was built by Colin in 1990. She impressed many at her debut meeting by qualifying for the meeting Final via an 8th place in the consolation.
Crispin Rosevear went away wondering just how long it would be before the Plymouth teenager captured her first F2 race victory......and where? Her 'home' track of Newton Abbott perhaps?

In fact, Crispin would have to wait far longer for Sarah's first F2 race victory that he expected. She had only commenced her F2 career under age! Apparently her dad Pete Bowden was put under great financial strain(!) after the wicking great ?10 fine that he received due to this error. Sarah explained that this 'error' was due to the confusion in the rules following the graduation from Mini-stox.

So, Sarah had to wait until season 1992 to commence her F2 career in full!

Having said that, Sarah was able to take an F2 to the tracks one more time in 1991, when she proudly drove her dad's car onto the circuit at Bristol to line it up to compete in the '91 World Final. Me and me mate Paul Hindle had traveled down to Bristol to see this, our First F2 World Final. On seeing Miss B for the first time - she certainly gained a few more northern fans!!! !!!!

Sarah commenced the '92 season eagerly from her C grade start at the likes of Newton Abbott, Taunton and Bristol - but none too successfully. Sarah went eight meetings without a point - but that was certainly not without trying!

The Bank Holiday meeting at Newton Abbott on 4th May was a hectic affair- even Colin Higman managed to leap the fence in the final! But prior to this SB had stormed to an early lead from her pole position start and led for eight laps only to then flip her Higgy and put it on it's roof!

The Spring Bank Holiday weekend brought Sarah's first points success. Bristol on May 24th saw Sarah once again lead from the off, and although she couldn't hold off the star grade charge of Messrs Batten and Locke, she still held on for a creditable third. Sarah then followed this by a Final 7th after succumbing once more to the Red Top Train - with Batten at the fore.

Next day at Newton Abbott, the point scoring continued as Sarah followed home 898 John Harding in the consolation. Thus 15 points in just 2 days......Sarah was on her way.

Taunton 21/6/92 say saw Sarah's most consistent meeting to date with three 6th placings (heat/final and GN). This was followed on the Wednesday night at Newton Abbott with a Final 7th. Then at Bristol on June 28th where Sarah collected another small bucket of points courtesy of a cons 7th followed by 5th placings in both the Final and GN!

Buoyed by all this, Miss Bowden fancied a chance at trying to qualify for the '92 World Championship Semis! And the 4th July saw the 918 team roll into the pits at Crewe for it's Qualifying round. This was to be Sarah's first taste of shale racing!
The following West Country pilots 167 Bill Batten, 667 Tim Farrell and 505 Ivor Collins were also at Crewe, BUT their cars were staying firmly on their trailers, awaiting the following days Tar Qualifier at Buxton - but SB was lining up for her heat!
To her immense credit, Sarah went the distance in all three races that she competed in but she made her way into the meeting Final once again courtesy of a dogged drive in the consolation which rewarded her with an 8th place. So say she was delighted was an understatement!

I caught up with the Plymouth pilot the next day at the Buxton Qualifier after she had put in some hot laps in practice. "I loved it last night!" Sarah exclaimed, "Racing up-country's SO different. The racing was incredibly rough and fast last night and I'm glad that I got something out of it." So what was with this sudden outburst of traveling outside the confines of the English Riviera due to? "I'd love to get to the Semi-Finals this year. It's good to aim for something. That's why I plan to do the East-Coast Speedweekend and Cowdenbeath in August. I wanted to start racing last year, but, I...erm.. lied about my age and got found out! S'pose I just want to make up for lost Time!" Well, after and initial run of pointless meetings and a roll at Newton Abbott, which apparently gave her a fit of the giggles(!), Sarah's certainly not hanging about now. First time out at Buxton's High Edge raceway and she nearly blagged a win! Only Speaky and Turbo Tommo overhauled her latterly.
(Rob Hughes, North Column,SCM August 1992)

Newton Abbott the next Wednesday (8/7/92) saw Sarah add a further point to her tally thanks to an 8th in Heat 3.

The points tally for the month ended on 20th July. Sarah had earnt a total of 56 points after 19 appearances and was rewarded with a yellow roof for August!

Before Sarah's obligatory up-grading though in August '92, Miss B still had a few meetings remaining in July to take advantage of her C grade stating position......

....but perhaps the UK Speedweekend at Skeg on 11/12 July '92 wasn't the best weekend to make the most of that advantage!
The 918 car was one of 105 cars that raced on the Saturday night but failed to get on the score sheet. In fact the only thing that Sarah collected on this torrentially wet night was a mud bath courtesy of careering out of control onto the in-field in the first of two all white top races that commenced the evening's proceedings!
Perhaps her mind wasn't fully on the job that weekend as the social side of the Skeggy Speedweekend is as popular as the racing. She was clearly in a 'playful' mood even when lining up in pit-line to go out for practice prior to the evening's racing when she decided to give 622 Darren Bingley a little tap with her front bumper just to say hello!! It certainly woke Daz up!
After the rain - soaked meeting finished at 11.15pm, Sarah enjoyed the social side of the weekend far more with plenty of drinks to boot and joined the mickey-taking of a certain SCM 'North' correspondent!
....but she must have still been groggy next day......as she still got another mud-bath in her opening heat!

SB was back at Skeg just ten days later, clearly not put off by her lack of raceway success over the Speedweekend as she sought to pursue her goal of Semi-Final qualification to the death. 41 cars competed with Sarah for those crucial 'last chance points on this Wednesday night. Unfortunately, despite total courage and commitment and what Crispin Rosevear described as the "gutsy way in which she drove in a desperate bid for points" the 7th place she netted in the night's consolation wasn't enough. Sarah had only made 5th reserve. Undeterred, Miss B made her long, long way back to Plymouth that night determined to be more successful in 1993.


SB was back at Skeg just ten days later, clearly not put off by her lack of raceway success over the Speedweekend as she sought to pursue her goal of Semi-Final qualification to the death. 41 cars competed with Sarah for those crucial 'last chance points on this Wednesday night. Unfortunately, despite total courage and commitment and what Crispin Rosevear described as the "gutsy way in which she drove in a desperate bid for points" the 7th place she netted in the night's consolation wasn't enough. Sarah had only made 5th reserve. Undeterred, Miss B made her long, long way back to Plymouth that night determined to be more successful in 1993.

918 Sarah Bowden started her 1993 campaign imbued with the confidence that her success brought her at the end of '92.

Sarah started the '93 season with the same Higman chassis 2 litre F2, resplendent in new paint work and David James sign-work. As one would expect, Sarah commenced her racing at her 'home' track of Newton Abbott.....but she failed to feature in the Racecourse results in neither of the March or April sessions.....

Clearly she was saving herself for her first up-country exploit of the season: the English-Open Championship that was staged at a very wet (for a change!) Buxton on 18th April.
Sarah had developed quite a liking for this 'away' track after placing well in the Qualifier the previous year and she certainly wasn't put off by the appalling weather as her display in her opening heat testified. She just drew away from her yellow top start and once negotiating the white tops in front, she was gone - never to be caught!
This heat victory resulted in young SB finding herself on pole position for the start of the English Open Championship Final with the likes of John Mickel, Rob Speak and John Thompson for immediate company! No wonder that come the drop of the green in this Championship event, this plucky B grader was immediately over-whelmed and over hauled.
But she game back as keen as ever come the meeting's Grand National!
I wrote at the time for SCM magazine....."My favourite race of the day was the Grand National as Miss Bowden, starting from Yellow Top, relentlessly pursued long time leader 211 Justin Cole. Confidently racing as if she was on rails, Sarah tackled the flying white top with gusto - slamming into the back of 211 at full chat down the home straight with the sound of a thunder clap and bundled him wide on the Pit Turn with three laps to go. No one else had a sniff of a chance - Rob Speak followed Sarah home a distant second."

These two victories and the basin-full of points that they gave along with some more points acquired at the Bristol Qualifier the previous weekend resulted in Sarah earning a total of 34 points in just 4 meetings.....AND a Blue Roof come 1st May 1993.

"That's Not Bad For A Girl, is it?" was Sarah's quip as she leaned about her up-grading to 'A' Grade for the first re-grading of the season. The quip stuck and it was painted on the leading edge of her, now blue, aerofoil!

Straight into May 1993: and now up-graded to blue, Sarah was intent on keeping it.

The May Day Bank Holiday weekend brought mixed fortunes for Sarah. Bristol's Monday meet was one of the most action-packed on record, with no less than five roll-overs. Very entertaining for the crowd, but Miss B came away from Bristol with one hell of a headache after being involved in a rather nasty pile-up in the second heat of the afternoon.

"Sarah certainly enjoyed far more success the previous day at what was supposed to be her bogey track - Taunton. First time out as an 'A' grader, after taking a smooth fifth place in the Consolation at the Smeatharpe Oval, Sarah repeated the feat in the Final against much stronger opposition. The seventeen year old was an absolute delight to watch as she successfully fought off the continual attentions of seasoned Superstar 686 Garry Hooper. Seems like my pep talk during the interval, prior to the Grand Final must have had an effect! (don't flatter yourself Mr Bean!)"
(Rob Hughes. North Column. SCM.june 1993)

This excellent display gave Sarah the confidence she needed when returning to Taunton just a fortnight later on May 16th, for the 'Toytown' Qualifying Round. The weather couldn?t have been more of a contrast though - it belted down! But as proved at Buxton in the English Open the previous year, Sarah was no respecter of the wet and filthy conditions. Reveling were others - including 4 John Mickel - struggled, Sarah took her first race win from Blue Grade in the consolation ahead of that arch exponent of the front bumper 652 Dave Sansom. (Suggestions that Sansom was 'riding shotgun' for the Plymouth teenager were hotly denied by the Bowden crew afterwards!)
The driver of car 918, continued in a determined, qualifying point grabbing vein in the Final in the atrocious conditions by hanging on to the red top train - headed by 152 Mick Sworder - to take an excellent 6th place, and thus a crucial 16 points were netted in Sarah's quest for the year's Semi-Final qualification.

In the following Summer months Sarah continued the acquire places and points at the meetings she attended to successfully hold down the Blue Roof. Points are hard fought to acquire for any Blue Top - with the Reds bearing down on you like a ton of bricks before you've got even half a chance of settling into the race - this Sarah was certainly no exception to this. Racing regularly at her core 'home' tracks of Bristol, Taunton, and Newton Abbott, Sarah had good meetings: getting places and points. Sometimes she had bad: and came away with a bad dose of bad luck and a car with snapped rose-joints and a bent steering rack! But still, that's stockcar racing.....
Away from 'home', SB was regularly attracted to race at her favourite 'away' track - Buxton. Here she found the opportunity to settle in to a race - thanks to Buxton's longer straights - and so had better chances on occasions. Sarah's Heat eighth, Final seventh and GN third on May 23rd was a typical example.

July 25th was the date of the year's penultimate WCQR at Sarah's home track of Newton Abbott - her last chance to ensure that she scrapped into the Top 50 and get herself a coveted place on a SF grid. A singular point courtesy of a tenth place in the meeting's Consolation was JUST enough!!

So came Bristol - Sunday 29th August 1993 - the date of the year's second BriSCA Formula Two Stockcar World Championship Semi Final - and 918 Sarah Bowden found herself lining up on Outside Row twelve with the likes of 642 Dave Luscombe, 26 Clinton Dorrell and the Marnhull Magician 698 Malc Locke for company at the tail end of the field! Now Locky always went round Bristol like the proverbial rocket.... so surely all Sarah had to do was 'hang on to his shirt-tail' in order to become the first ever female racer to qualifier for a F2 World Final? The Bowden crew were taking bets on whether their plucky girl would make it through! Well, in the event, the race was just a little more complicated and hectic than that.........

Come the drop of the green, most spectators eyes (and indeed those of the commentator- for it was me!) were on the battle up front as King, Chisholm and Kent hotly chased after Speak. But from the back of the field Miss Bowden was driving the race of her life! True - 698 Malc Locke was away and gone in his 1300cc screamer before Sarah really had chance to really wind up her 2 litre Pinto engine, but nevertheless, she started picking off the drivers immediately in front of her like 26 Clinton Dorrell, 145 Andrew Morgan and 751 Brian Smith.
Sarah was still outside the 'ten' when lady luck smiled her way at the half way stage in the race. Chaos ensued up-front as Malc Locke tried too hard in his attempt to pass 686 Garry Hooper down the dip into the pits turn. They tangled and careered into the paths of 505 Ivor Collins, 790 Mark Taylor and 751 Brian Smith. These F2's momentarily blocked the track just as the race leaders came on the scene. Speak chose wrong and got pinned for a few crucial seconds to the plate by the starter's rostrum. 804 Ian King chose right and shot through to lead on the inside!
All this action allowed the 918 pilot to really close up on the lead lap and she arrived on the scene just as the melee cleared on the home straight. Several fancied runners (686,698 and 505) were out and others had lost crucial time.
In the second half of the race, Sarah took full advantage of the retirements of some of those ahead - like 335 Mark Woodhull - and continued to harass those ahead of her on track in order to sneak into the top ten.
With the '5 to go' out, Sarah really cranked it up a gear, and slammed no less an imposing driver than 183 Gary Maynard (driving the Speaky 2 litre Higman on the day) into the plating on the top turn. She then swallowed up two yellow tops that had started the race at the top half of the grid - 69 Simon Chalkley and 53 John Atkinson and thus improved her position further.
Into the last lap and Sarah went for a gap into the top turn that many people (including me in the commentary box!) simply thought wasn't there and she stole yet another two places off 790 Mark Taylor and 80 Pete Hall!
To her, and her family/crew and many fans' absolute delight, Sarah finished the 1993 Bristol Semi in seventh place! A superb achievement! The bubbly certainly went down well that night!

Saturday 25th September 1993 started bright and early in the Bowden household as the cameras from West Country TV came to visit. They were recording for a TV documentary a ?day in the life? mini-story of Sarah Bowden ? the first female competitor to ever take part in a Formula Two Stockcar Final.

Sarah herself swallowed her nerves and politely endured the camera?s intrusiveness and the continual questions as she tried to concentrate on the day ahead.

She has plenty of time to consider her forth-coming fortunes as their transporter ? an aging A.E.C bus, driven those many miles up-country by Ivor Collins ? laboured its way. They had to stop a few times to re-fill a leaking radiator on the old bus, but nevertheless, Team 918 eventually arrived at Crewe Stadium at 4pm.

The next task in hand was to ready the 2 litre Higman race-car for the evening?s action. The crucial hurdle to leap was to make sure that the car was weighed to ensure that it was within the maximum 674kg weight limit ? and this had to be done before the 5 ?o? clock deadline.

At the first weigh-in attempt a crisis loomed as the scales that the car came in at 2kgs in excess of the weight limit. Sarah was concerned that drastic action would be necessary to make her car race legal, and if ?bits had to be cut off the car? then so be it. Fortunately, Ivor Collins came in with the simplest and best solution : to change the Weller race wheels that were on the car for alloy Revolution wheels, which Sarah normally usually used for racing on tarmac. Sarah knew that the alloy wheels could be far more prone to damage racing in the hurly-burly on the first F2 World Final to take place on shale in twenty years, but it was a risk that had to be taken, IF the care was going to be under the legal weight limit.

With five minutes to spare, the re-shod 918 car drove back up to the scales. With the belts secured round the 918 chassis, the weighing machine took the stain and lifted the 4 year old Higman into the air??.674Kgs! The car was on the limit and therefore race legal! Sarah could breathe a sigh of relief!

She didn?t have long to draw breath though, as I came hounding after her ? mike in hand ? to interview her for SCM Video who were recording the full race meeting for BriSCA posterity and for race-fan?s consumption. Sarah was probably by now sick of answering the same old questions that had been put to her all day, but when the camera?s red light came on, she showed nothing of it and happily answered my questions ? predicting the race to be one of the best World Finals ever. ?I just want to finish with all four wheels on the car!? Sarah said to me, ?But if I get in the Top four, Darren Hardy?s dad?s gonna throw the biggest party for us all ever!?

Sarah was determined to take as light-hearted approach to the race as possible, and whatever the outcome, she wanted to savour the moment.

Eight 'o' clock saw Sarah sat high on the wing of her F2 as her dad Peter proudly drove his daughter out onto the track. Sarah took her qualifier?s trophy and then took the applause of the large crowd that had traveled from all corners of the UK to witness this eagerly anticipated event.

Looking back, Sarah savoured the moment. "When I lined up, with the other drivers, sat up high on the car, ready to be driven out on the track and be part of it all, it felt brilliant. Sarah reflected. It was really nice, just for that night, to be made to feel really special. For people to have showed all that interest in me?.it was really good.

Sarah was feeling extremely excited and nervous as she strapped herself into the 918 car in readiness for the 1993 F2 Championship of the World. She felt that she ?had to do something? after all the cheers and shouts of encouragement that she had received from the crowd on the parade lap.

Regrettably, as came be the fortunes in this unpredictable sport this was not to be Sarah's night. Into the opening lap of the race, SB found herself to be exactly where she had said - all day she didn?t want to be:- caught on the outside in the loose shale with Crewe's unforgiving Armco plate looming. Forced wide by Northern Ireland's Davey McCrory (NI40) who was racing Darren Bingley's 'Tonka' shale-car on the night, Sarah found herself elbowed wide on turn four by 790 Mark Taylorwho was already making huge strides from the back of the field on his way to his ultimate third placing in this big race. Approaching the home straight , Sarah's out of control car spun and under the starter's rostrum was hit square on by Scotland's 721 Graeme Kelly. The off-side rear wheel was ripped away from the 918 car by the impact. And Sarah was the first retiree from the 93 World Final. "I sat in the car watching the other racers flash by just inches away, and all I could think was please don't hit me!"


The big dream had ended, but any thoughts that Sarah may have had in an early visit to the bar was put on hold as mechanics Dave, Pete, Ivor and Mike discovered the car to be reparable in time for the night's second Consolation race. Sarah finally was able to show her ability and put in an extremely capable and smooth drive on the now embedded and fast shale oval to record her best ever shale race result: sixth. Come the Meeting Final and the 918 pilot made another excellent start only to be caught in a pile up just before the end of the race which not took Sarah out but also other notables like 167 Bill Batten. The 918 car was now beyond repair and Sarah's Big Race Night had come to a close.

After Sarah's involvement in the World Final clearly the high point of her race career, the low point incredibly followed just four days later. At Newton Abbotts last Wednesday night meeting of the year (29/9/93), Sarah was involved in an horrific smash in the last race of the night the Grand National which resulted in a trip to hospital for both Sarah and the other young a promising Plymouth based driver involved, 143 Steve Calvert. F2 journalist Andrew Carter reported, It all happened quite by accident in an incident which is still hard to believe. Calvert had spun out, on the pits bend, and as he drove against the fence, facing the oncoming traffic, in an effort to pull across onto the centre green he managed to pull straight into the path of the 918 car, which at this point of the track was at full pelt. The result of which was an abandoned race and two young drivers with considerable injuries. Steve Calvert, it transpired, had suffered a cracked pelvis, whilst Sarah suffered a shatter knee cap and broken ankle.

It was a very sad way to end what had been a very highly successful race season for Miss Bowden.

And perhaps her future race career just wasn't to be. Throughout the Winter of 93/94, the Bowden team had completed a brand new race car for Sarah. It was very 'Higman-esque' with a full tubular roll cage this time and the car was finished resplendently in shimmering green. Sarah was establishing the full capabilities of her new home-built F2 at the early season meetings of 1994 at her home track of Newton Abbott. She collected places and points at both the March and early April meetings and had certainly done enough to hold down her Blue Top by the cut off for the first grading list of the ?94 season. However, disaster was to strike again in a GN at NA! At the 17th April meeting, Sarah found herself leading the GN after a gaggle of lower graders had exited early on. As the race approached the final few laps star graded fellow traveling companion 505 Ivor Collins sought a way past Sarah, but Miss B was having non of it! Sarah even attempted to put Ivor onto the in-field as she determinedly shut the door on the Red Top trying to barge his way through! When 505 finally got by, Sarah was quick to tuck in behind and repay the compliment only to ricochet off the 505 car when their wheels tangled, and SB hit the fence at full chat! The result this time was a broken arm!

Sarah's return to racing was equally ill-fated at Newton Abbott at the first Wednesday night session of the year 22nd June. It was another freak accident the ended Sarah?s relatively short F2 race career. Sarah had had to park her mis-firing green 918 car up near the pit gate in the opening heat. Tragically, her stationary car was hit by fiance 652 Dave Sansom after he had bounced off 731 Dace Ruby during the latter part of the race. In great pain, Sarah was admitted to hospital once more, where it was discovered that she had broken two small bones in her neck. Sarah had been very lucky as the doctor warned her that she could have been paralyzed from the neck down.

Retirement was duly accepted by the young Plymouth racer at the age of 18.

But Sarah, even after it all still said of her short but impact laiden (media-wise and out on track!) F2 stockcar racing career, "I wouldn't have changed it..I wouldn?t have done nothing different."

Now in her thirties, these days Sarah enjoys horse riding..even if she has fallen off on occasion! "Horses are good," Sarah has admitted to me, "but it isn't the same buzz as racing."